Drogheda halt slide with hard-earned draw against Shamrock Rovers
Shamrock Rovers' Adam Brennan in action against Edwin Agbaje of Drogheda. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Clohessy
On a night when goals were hard to find in most if not all Premier Division encounters, neither Drogheda United nor Shamrock Rovers could locate the net as the spoils were shared.
The visit of Shamrock Rovers to Sullivan & Lambe Park meant Drogheda United were up against it if they were to arrest an alarming run of three straight defeats – a sequence that has halted their early season optimism. This result will certainly be a tonic.
Their task was at least helped by Roberto Lopes’ absence. The Rovers captain was suspended after his dismissal against Sligo Rovers, meaning Cory O’Sullivan and Tunmise Sobowale started in a back three, with wingers Maleace Asamoah and Adam Brennan occupying wing-back berths.
There was little to separate the sides at the break, with both sides only conjuring up the occasional half chance in the opening 45 minutes on Boyneside. Thomas Oluwa and Leo Burney had shots on target but neither troubled Ed McGinty. Matt Healy’s shot at the other end was blocked before it could bother the Drogheda goalkeeper.
United began the second half as they did the first, taking the game to the champions but a cutting edge eluded them. Kevin Doherty could at least take comfort from the fact Drogheda, like Rovers, had scored in every league match this season so far. That run, for both, is over now.
With Rovers searching for a goal, it was helpful that Stephen Bradley could at least call on a veritable score of attacking talent from the bench. He called on Danny Grant, Jake Mulraney and Dylan Watts in his first reshuffle.
Not long after, Michael Noonan and Aaron Greene followed. But those changes did not result in an expected Rovers onslaught. Fresh from conceding eight goals in their previous three games – leading to rare criticism from Doherty – this Drogheda defence was not as amenable to conceding.
Even as the game ticked into its final minutes, neither goalkeeper underwent stringent examination. 17-year-old Victor Ozhianvuna forced Luke Dennison into a routine enough save and Brennan, after a quick counter upfield, failed to get his shot on target.
Meanwhile, Dundalk beat Sligo Rovers 1-0 at Oriel Park with the winner coming in the 82nd minute from a Daryl Horgan penalty. Dundalk finished with 10 players after Aodh Dervin was sent off two minutes later.Â
Dennison; Burney, Keeley, Quinn; Agbaje, O’Brien, Godden, Kane; Kavanagh (Farrell, 74); Oluwa (Davis, 67), Doyle.
McGinty; Sobowale, Grace, O’Sullivan; Asamoah (Grant, 67), Healy, Byrne (Noonan, 76), Brennan; Ozhianvuna (Watts, 67); Burke (Mulraney, 67), McGovern (Greene, 76).
Declan Toland
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